Parrots are cool. They are also one hell of a lot of work.

The amount of crap I went through when that Cookie video went viral was enough to make anyone heave. It was just a rough time. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I now understand why Britney Spears shaved her head.

In case you hadn’t heard, I had a video on Youtube go viral in April and I’m still dealing with the fallout.

Exciting?

Well yes, if you don’t mind having to weed through 5000 comments on your Youtube account and removing all of the ones from what appeared to be Neanderthal teenagers with filthy mouths, can’t spell and are basically disgusting.

Challenging?

Oh yeahhh! If you don’t mind people pirating the video all over the place and claiming it’s theirs. Then when Youtube takes it down, they get mad, call you names even I’ve never heard of, damn you to the fiery pits of Hades and threaten to beat you up. I had my attorney on speed-dial. (Yes, I had to get one.)

Nerve-wracking?

Umm, when you have a producer on the phone from “The Today Show” and they want the video 15 minutes ago for the show that’s going on in 20 minutes, and you have to figure out what to do, that’s cause for a drink. But I couldn’t because I had to go to work. At that point, I also had my Manager on speed-dial. (Yes, one of those too…)

Puzzling?

Of course, Cookie’s video did nothing but help raise the profile of the Cincinnati Zoo. But I haven’t heard from them with the exception of my friend Steve. I emailed him and asked how things were going around his neck of the woods during this hell pit of a firestorm. Steve doesn’t waste words. He simply replied, “Epic.”

Funny?

Well, yes. Someone left a comment that they got to see Cookie the other day and “touch his beak” which is impossible as Cookie was molting at the time, so he was not in a public area. And even if he was able to be seen, I can assure you that you don’t touch the penguins unless you work there or are invited there. So that was a complete pile of penguin-pucky.

So, all in all, it was an interesting experience. It hasn’t ended yet however and I’ll be dealing with Cookie for a long time. But it’s been an interesting ride and although it was nerve-wracking I learned a lot. And I guess maybe that was the entire point. Maybe I should just stick to parrots.

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Patricia Sund

Patricia Sund is a Free-Lance Writer residing in Florida with her three African Greys. She has been published in About.com, Bird Talk Magazine, Birds USA, In Your Flock Magazine, Good Bird Magazine as well as numerous websites and newsletters. She is currently doing research for a book titled "Parrot Nation".

Most of the comments were from smart-mouthed kids that leave rude sexual comments that have absolutely nothing to do with the content on Youtube. Cookie’s video was commented on by a guy that has a popular channel on Youtube and he liked the video, but of course had to be a smart-ass about it as that’s what his channel is about. So these “lemming teenagers” had to come and repeat what he said and it was just all dreck and nonsense. And anyone who used the “F” word, got axed as well. There’s too many kids who watch the video for them to be seeing posts like that.
And of course the people who pirated the video got mad because when it was removed because they lost a source of income revenue generated by the hits on Cookies video. It was a tense couple of weeks, I’ll tell you that… : )

It’s truly unfortunate that the Cookie video ended up being a case of “no good deed goes unpunished,” but you’ve obviously come to grips with the experience. Crummy that you had to deal with negative & rude jerks. Don’t know if you should “just stick to parrots.” You’re a tough cookie (lol) in all the right ways, so keep up the good work! 🙂

great video.. i’m curious about the interaction ‘tween the person & the pengi with the various noises and physical affections… very parent-and-child i thought.. very cute

oh yeah, and consider locking comments so that no more can be added if ur getting too much negative stuff you have to weed through. u just go to your video’s edit page, and disable comments. or you can filter (block) specific individuals too, or have the comments moderated, etc. (there are options to make the experience less painful)
🙂